Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

The not being able to predict viewership poses a challenge, because advertisers want (directly or indirectly) to pay based on the qualified prospects they can reach. So the more people you can reach, the better. And the closer this audience is to who the advertiser wants t reach, the better.

What I would do is look to see if you can find some sort of comparison point, and base your rates off of that. Many movie theaters charge for advertisements that play before the movie starts - if there are ones in your area, contact them and find out the rates. This could give you a baseline.

I like Peter's approach, because it's probably the most relevant to your situation. Clearly you have a very targeted audience that would be worth more, and having the commercial message within the programming is worth something. The problem isn't the rate per thousand, but the unpredictable audience size.

You could probably start by basing the rate on 50% occupancy -- or 50,000 sets of eyeballs. If the rate makes sense to advertisers at 50%, they will probably accept your offer ... or at least negotiate off that as a base.

And for the exact CPM amount, I'd liken this also to radio or local cable-tv spots. (They can be quite similar in many markets, and your advertisers will know those numbers, so you should too.)

If you combine the rate for the pre-show ads in the movie theaters, the rate for radio spots and the rate for cable-tv spots (to the closest target audience you can find), and then apply that to an estimated audience of 50,000, you can come up with a number that will probably fly.

You might also check Spot Runner to see what CPM they quote for your demographic. If you need a specific market, pick a mid-size Midwestern market (like Indianapolis or St. Louis, etc.) ... not a New York or Los Angeles, and not a Klamath Falls, Oregon, or Fon du Lac, Wisconsin.